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MUMBAI: Banks such as Standard Chartered, JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, which have offices in London, Frankfurt and New York, are planning to use plum foreign postings to hold back employees as the Indian banking industry prepares for its biggest churn in nearly two decades with the arrival of new kids on the block.

The managements of some of these international banks will in the next few weeks prepare dossiers hard-selling the advantages of working for a worldclass institution. Intangibles such as professional work atmosphere, skill development opportunities, and prospects of working with some of the best brains in the world now score over money as a retention tool.

There may be a direct need for more than 7,000 skilled people as Shriram City Union, M&M Financial and Bajaj Finserv, among others, scramble for about half-a-dozen banking licences likely to be issued by RBI.

"I think the opportunity to work for a global platform and career progression will be the key in retaining talent... you cannot retain talent by merely hiking salaries," said Ravneet Gill, head of India operations at Deutsche Bank. "People stick on to jobs when they see institutions promoting career, skill development and global mobility. Foreign banks have an edge when it comes to offering global mobility."

Sunil Kaushal, chief executive at Standard Chartered India, said, "At international banks, people look beyond money. They consider brand, culture, management ability, career beyond one market, and the ability to get exposure to global best practices, which is a huge plus for us when it comes to retention. Every organisation would do everything to ensure talent is rightly compensated."

The demand for staff is also rising because state-run banks are on a record hiring binge for the first time in a decade, which could step up pressure to raise salaries even at the lowest levels. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection said 20 public sector banks, excluding State Bank of India, will hire 22,415 officers and 32,453 clerks for branch expansion and to fill up vacancies created by retirement and attrition. SBI is independently hiring candidates to fill up 1,500 officer positions for which more than 17 lakh people have applied.

In the battle for skills, brand could become another key factor since a startup, even if it is backed by industrial conglomerates, may not be that attractive. "Employees may not want to lose brand equity to get a leg up," said Romesh Sobti, managing director and chief executive at IndusInd Bank. "Comfort of own work culture, money, stock options, and working with a known team will help retention of talent."

In fact, some believe that talent is not a worry at all given the abundance of manpower in the country, with colleges churning out millions of graduates every year even though some question the employability of many of these graduates.

"India has got so much talent that attrition should be the least of the worries of existing banks," said Kalpana Morparia, country head at JPMorgan. "We have seen new licensees entering the banking space in the 1990s and early 2000. We managed even then."